Sunday, December 7, 2008

After 18 years serving up hot platters that matter, Vancouver's Mint Records know how to make one tasty treat of a party where anything of a fun musical bent can occur, or anyone, from seemingly out of nowhere can show up! Take for example when at the 2006 Xmas Party, Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand joined Nardwuar the Human Serviette's Evaporators onstage to sing his #1 world-wide smash "Take Me Out".

This year was no exception! Nardwuar again reached into his bag of tricks and pulled Andrew W.K. out of the audience for a surprise appearance at the end of Nite 1 ("Nardwuar Nite"- Friday Dec 5 2008) of the Mint Records' Ridiculously Early Xmas Party weekend at the Ukrainian Hall in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Andrew W.K. joined the Evaporators for their song "I Don't Need My Friends To Tell Me Who My Friends Are" and then The Evaporators launched into Andrew's "Party Hard," "Ready to Die," "She is Beautiful" plus "Don't Sell Hot Dogs Tonite" a cover of Toronto's Leather Uppers. But it didn't end there! How could it? Andrew W.K. loves Canada too much so Wimpy Roy of the Subhumans helped satisfy this need by magically appearing to sing The Subhumans "Oh Canaduh" ! Finally to end the night a complete Vancouver Punk Rock onslaught took place with legendary Vancouver Punks Randy Rampage (DOA ) and Jon Card (DOA/Personality Crisis) storming the stage to accompany Wimpy, Andrew WK and The Evaporators on a reading of the real Canadian national anthem , The Subhumans classic, "Fuck You".

"It gives me great pleasure to announce my partnership with Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada's The Evaporators, as we release (in early 2009) a new split 7" EP! It's called, 'A Wild Pear', and features artwork by American cartoonist, Mitch Clem! I'm honored to be part of the this special musical moment. I've been a fan of Nardwuar since I first saw him on bootleg VHS copies of his Cable Access TV shows. Then I found out about The Evaporators, and I was even more blown away. I've recorded my own cover versions of two classic Canadian punk tunes: The Leather Uppers - 'Don't Sell Hot Dogs Tonight', and Subhumans - 'Oh Canaduh'. I love both of these songs and had an amazing time recording them. I've been a strong fan of the Leather Uppers since I first heard about their music from my friend Jim Magas, almost 14 years ago.

I consider this release to be the result of a magical circle, one that started for me back in high school, while living in southeast Michigan. Having the opportunity to meet Nardwuar was a dream come true and the first time the circle connected. Getting to make this record with him is the circle coming together another time, and I'm very grateful. Out of respect for dreams coming true, I dedicate my contributions on this 7" to Canada, Nardwuar, and my wife, Cherie Lily." - Andrew W.K.